


Glowing Brightly

by KIASK



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Captain Brian, Fantasy, Jaehyungparkian, M/M, Sky Barnacle Jae, Sky Pirates, pirates! au, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-27 18:16:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13886391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KIASK/pseuds/KIASK
Summary: Brian is a Pirate Captain who was shot into the sky and now he's floating aimlessly and Jae is a complete sky barnacle who takes a liking to him.





	Glowing Brightly

**Author's Note:**

> Today is Day 2 of Jaehyungparkian Week! The prompt is Pirates!  
> I had a lot of fun with this and honestly I'll probably end up revisiting it in the future because I love my soft Sky Barnacle Jae and feisty Pirate Captain Brian.
> 
> (to find out more about Day6 Ship Week head on over to twt and check out [day6sailing](https://twitter.com/day6sailing)

Below the clouds the sea crashes against shores, reminding the earth of the force which shaped the land. Powerful, unforgiving, gentle, salty.  
Above the clouds is different. Above the clouds there is no earth, but there are _islands._  
There are cities and people and all sorts of wonderful creatures that don’t even exist down below.

The skies are always blue and somehow it’s always warm. A soft wind pushes his ship forward slowly.    
Brian wonders if maybe he died in that storm and now he’s here, doomed to float on a sea of clouds in his ghost ship while the real vessel sinks to the lowest depths of the sea floor.

 

The sky is clear above the clouds. Brian can’t say that he hates it. At sunset the colours in the sky are unlike any he’s ever seen before, bright oranges and reds and pinks and purples, mixing together as the Sun sinks into the sea of clouds and disappears to give way to the night. Everything goes quiet at night, and it makes him feel so small on his ship.

He longs for his crew down below, probably scared and confused by the sudden disappearance of their Captain.  
Occasionally Brian stops on ‘skyland’ and looks for food. He searches for a way back down below, but most of the ‘people’ he encounters don’t know how to help him. They don’t believe in the land below. The Sea is a myth, and the Sky is all they know.

They pack his ship with strange fruits and smile politely before waving him back out to drift.

It’s very lonely.

Occasionally Brian sails past other ships, but they aren’t anything like his. The crews will invite him on board and they’ll drink and be merry, singing songs to the stars.They listen to his stories and laugh, soaking it up like some sort of Faerie Tale. He likes the company, but it makes him worry for his own crew. Makes him miss them.

He could stay with those crews, abandon his quest, and just live out the rest of his days here.

He thanks them for their generosity and returns to his lonely ship, wishing them luck on their quests.

A bell rings in the distance, the most beautiful sound he’s ever heard. He follows the sound until he comes across a small island, docking his ship on the cloudy shores. A small creature not unlike a fox greets him and he knows that he’s meant to follow. It brings him to a small village, where the people look like him. Creatures living in harmony with the people of the village sing out as they ring the bell together.

“This is a place where the lost gather to find their way.”

Brian loves it here.

He doesn’t stay for long. He stays long enough to ring the bell and enjoy a feast. They all howl at the moon together before he sets sail again.

He enjoys the adventures he has, but he’s still so lonely. He wonders what the people down below are doing. Wonders if his crew found a new Captain. Found a new ship. Maybe they even found new jobs as barkeeps and bards. Honest work.

 

The Sun is hotter above the clouds than it is down below. It never rains, but there are Wind Storms. They get so strong that sometimes his ship is lifted even higher and he worries that he won’t be able to get back down. He fights his sails against the strong winds and whispers a small prayer to the gods that he lives.

 

Brian wakes up one morning to the sound of something crashing on the deck. He wonders if maybe he hit land while he slept, even though he was sure he had anchored himself in the night. He rubs the sleep out of his eyes and opens the door of his cabin. It’s already bright out, blinding.

On the middle of the deck is a pile of fluffy white feathers. _A bird? Is it hurt?_

Brain has seen birds out here before, but nothing quite so _large_. He approaches the pile carefully.

It groans and he freezes. _It’s awake._

The pile moves and a hand reaches out slowly. _A hand?!_

“...gry… hungry” It speaks in common tongue and Brian _panics_ because this creature is enormous (Okay, not enormous but bigger than him) and it’s _hungry._

He screams and shuffles his way back towards his cabin, shutting the door tightly behind him and pressing his back to the door.

Not much scares him. He’s a Captain of a _pirate ship._ He’s a fearless leader. He’s been drifting around this strange Skyland for days, maybe weeks, and he’s been _fine._

For some reason the _creature_ on his deck startled him. Maybe because it spoke. Maybe because it has _feathers_ . Maybe because it sounds kind of _pretty._

He takes a deep breath before opening the door to take another peek. _It’s fine, maybe it won’t eat me, I am a fearless PIRATE CAPTAIN._

The _creature_ is standing up, and he’s _inches_ away from the door now. It startles Brian so badly that he finds himself slamming the door shut again with a yelp. It’s _huge._ Or maybe it just feels huge because it’s standing directly in front of his door. He didn’t get a good look at it, just a face full of feathers.

“HEY”

He hears it yell, and a knock sounds through the wooden door. _Oh god. I’m really going to die here aren’t I._

“HEY!”

“G-Go away!”

The knocking stops.

He hears the shuffle of feet backing up from the door and Brian wonders if he should risk trying to open the door again. _Get yourself together! This is your ship! You’ve killed plenty of bandits and things during your reign! So what if you’re in a nightgown, you’re a FIERCE PIRATE CAPTAIN._

He reaches for the sword which lays across the surface of his desk. He hasn’t sharpened it since he got here, and he wonders if it will do any good but decides that it’s better than being completely unarmed. He ran out of bullets a long time ago so his pistol is completely useless to him.

Sword in hand he opens the door again, slowly.

The creature is gone.

He breathes a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat from his forehead. A shadow looms overhead and

within seconds something heavy lands on top of him. He tries to scream again, closing his eyes and losing his grip on the sword, hearing it skid across the deck. Mouth full of feathers. _Oh god, this is it, this is really how I die. How pathetic._

_“Will you stop SCREAMING for just one second?”_

He freezes, opening his eyes. It takes a moment for them to adjust to the bright light of the morning. The _creature_ is on top of him, holding him down. _No, not a creature._

It’s a man. A man with feathers. _Not just feathers. Wings._

The crea- _the man_ ’s face is a shadow, a golden halo of light from the sun outlining his frame. He’s lanky with sharp features, and the roundest softest looking mouth Brian has ever seen. His heart _flutters_ and he tries to get a grip on reality. Brian even thinks that maybe he’s beautiful. Maybe he’s an _angel._

He thinks back to tales of the Sea below, tales of Sirens. Sirens who appear and eat the hearts of wandering men. It’s said that they’re so beautiful that men don’t realize they’ve been devoured until it’s too late and panic sets in again.

“PLEASE DON’T EAT ME I PROMISE I TASTE HORRIBLE-”

_Silence._

_Silence._

“Are you an _idiot?_ ”

Brian blinks.

“You’re not going to…”

“Of course not! Jeez, what makes you think I want to eat _you_.”

“THEN WHY DID YOU ATTACK ME?”

“Excuse you? You screamed and slammed a door in my face. That’s a pretty rude way to treat a _visitor_.”

Brian’s head hurts, and this guy is kind of _heavy,_ and he talks entirely too much, and he can’t figure out _why_ he’s still got him pinned.

“Get off of me.”

“Give me something to _eat_.”

He’s also _pushy_ and Brian almost wishes he would just eat him and put him out of his misery.

Brian sighs, closing his eyes and hoping that when he opens them back up he’ll be back in his bed and this turned out to be just a wild fever dream brought on by the air pressure.

He opens them back up but the man is still there. Still pouting. Still glowing.  

“Hey, I said give me something to eat! I’ve been flying for days, I’m _starving._ ”

“Can you get _off_ of me please? For a _visitor_ you sure are rude.”

He groans before he rolls off of Brian, a tangle of too-long limbs and feathers.

Brian lifts himself up and stares at the _bird boy_ , laying on his back.

“Please? I’m… _starving._ ”

He looks like he’s going to cry. Brian knows crocodile tears when he sees them.

“You’re annoying.”

“ExcUSE ME? I am _beautiful._ How dare you refuse to feed me and then call me _annoying_ . Most men would _kill_ to be in my presence.”

“Yeah well, I’m not most men. Get off of my deck.”

“I can’t.”

Brian sighs and looks at him, irritated and a little hungry himself.

“If I feed you will you _please_ go away?”

The man's face lights up at the suggestion and Brian tries not to blush because he’s just _so pretty_ and he’s never encountered anything so… _beautiful._

 

 

 

“How long have you been sailing the Sky for? Your ship looks funny, so probably not for very long right?”

“Do you ever stop talking?”

Brian decides that he’s more of a _barnacle_ than an _angel_ , except he lives in the Sky instead of the Sea, and he’s prettier.

 

His name is Jaehyung, but he likes to just be called Jae. Brian doesn’t care though. _Jae_ was only supposed to stay for one meal, but his wing is _“broken”_ and he _“can’t fly on it”_.

It’s been three days.

Jae sleeps in the crows nest during the night and in the morning he knocks on Brian’s door until he wakes up and demands to be fed.

It’s exhausting.

Brian still doesn’t know what exactly Jae is. He knows that he isn’t human, _that_ much is clear to him. He does have a lot of human-like qualities though. There’s really only one _big_ difference. There are also small things that Brian notices each time he looks at Jae. Like that his skin seems to sparkle a little bit in the sunlight, and at night he _glows_ . It’s a faint glow, but it’s enough to be able to see him sitting in the crow’s nest from the cabin window if he squints. _He’s like an angel._

Except he’s not an angel. He’s far from it. Much too annoying to be an angel.

He calls himself _Wingfolk_ , and it sounds made up.

 

“I don’t know how long I’ve been up here for. I came from Down Below. From the Sea.”

“The… Sea?”

“It’s like the clouds up here but instead of clouds it’s just a bunch of water. It’s a lot scarier than up here, I’ll give you that much.”

Jae sits on the edge of the ship and munches on one of the strange fruits that Brian was given by the people on the Bell Island. It’s messy and a small trail of juice drips down his chin while he eats and it’s gross but a part of Brian’s brain thinks it’s _cute._

_I’ve been spending WAY too much time alone._

He adjusts the sails so that they’re catching the wind at _just_ the right angle in order to propel them forward without having to worry too much about steering. Not that he has a set course or anything, he just doesn’t want to end up going in circles. He at least wants to hit land soon and maybe dump Jae off in one of the villages. _It’s been a while since I’ve seen any land. Nothing since the Bell Island._

“Bria-”

“It’s _Captain_ to you.”

“Uh… sure whatever,” Jae sucks juice off of his fingers while he speaks and it’s mildly distracting. “ _Captain,_ where are we going?”

“What do you mean where are we going? We’re going _forward_.”

“Yeah I’m not blind, I can obviously see that much,” he jumps down from his perch, landing gracefully next to where Brian is tying down his ropes. “I just mean, what’s your endgame here?”

“I’m going to find land and drop you off at the nearest village so that I don’t have to listen to you talk at me for the rest of eternity.”

“Oh. That was a bit harsh. You do realize that I can’t just be _dropped off_ at a village. I’ll be killed on sight! Don’t you know anything?”

Jae stretches out his wings as far as they can go and turns his body towards the sun. From tip to tip Brian is sure his wingspan is over 12 feet long, and it’s a bit intimidating considering how _tall_ Jae already is. He tries not to stare at him too hard as the sun kisses his feathers, lighting them up in a way that’s just so… _pretty._

He feels a blush high on his cheeks and quickly turns away in order to focus on retying the knot he’s been working on for the last five minutes.

“Also…. You do realize that land is the _other_ way right?”

He drops the rope.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Yeah… I mean. I was out here not that long ago you know… six days ago actually. I was captured by a really _nasty_ bunch of poachers. They wanted my wings, y’see… and I mean, who wouldn’t because I have the most _beautiful_ wings of all of the Wingfolk, but anyway yeah… I was shot down with a net while I was minding my own business… and I don’t know why I’m telling you this. Long story short I escaped, flew for three straight days, nearly starved to death and met you!”

Brian tries not to show any form of disbelief. He’s sure he’s doing a terrible job of it from the way Jae’s face seems to mirror his own (Jae doesn’t realize that he does this).  

“You mean to tell me… there’s nothing out here?”

“Well… not for a while at least. I’m sure we’ll hit land _eventually_ but in the next few days it’s _really_ unlikely. I thought you knew that? Being a _Captain_ and all that. Don’t you know how to navigate.”

Brian wants to cry. He’s been sailing for three days with this idiot and he’s missing the peace and quiet that came with being alone.

“Captain?”

“Why… why didn’t you say anything sooner?”

“Oh. Well I don’t know, I’ve never actually willingly spent time on a ship before so I just assumed that you knew what you were doing.”

Jae looks apologetic.

“What do you want to do? If we keep going we have to hit land eventually.”

Brian nods solemnly.

“It would be stupid to turn back now so we’ll just stay on course.”

 

Brian spends the rest of the afternoon in his cabin. He misses the Earth. He misses his _crew_ . He misses having some form of _structure_ in his life.

 _I can’t just continue to wander up here forever. I need to get back._  

At night he lays in his bed, staring at the ceiling and wondering, _hoping,_ if this could all be just one long and elaborate dream that he’ll wake up from. Everytime he closes his eyes and opens them up again he’s disappointed to see the faint glow of Jae in the crow’s nest. Disappointed but also somewhat relieved.

He can faintly hear the sound of singing outside and it’s _beautiful_ and a little bit sad. He has the most beautiful dreams that night about the Wind and the Sky and a glowing angel.

 

A whole week goes by. They only change course once.

Jae has started to help out with small chores around the deck, and Brian thinks it’s sort of nice.

One of the days he ties a bandana around his head and holds out a mop and yells “ARRRR” while flicking dirty mop water at Brian, and it’s _fun._

For the first time in weeks Brian _laughs_.

“I knew you weren’t all mean all the time.”

“Arrrrrrrr”

Brian growls at him, and they both laugh.

Jae’s laugh is unlike anything Brian has ever heard before and it worries him because he knows that his wings will be strong enough to fly again soon and that means that Jae will _leave_ and he’s too scared to tell him that maybe it’s okay if he stays a while longer.

He tucks that fantasy deep into the back of his mind, right next to the one where he wakes up.

 

 

“Tell me about you.”

“What do you mean?”

They’re working on small repairs around the deck. Hammering down nails that have popped up from the woods, patching up holes caused by storms. At least in the Sky they don’t have to worry about leaks. Still, it feels wrong to leave the ship in disarray.

“I mean… like… tell me about the Sea and the Humans down there. I’ve never been.”

“Can’t you just fly there?”

“I mean, I could… but that’s not really the point.”

“Oh. Well… I’m the Captain of this ship.”

“Are you a… _pirate?”_

The words stings when Jae says it.

“Ah. Well yes, but I’m not a bad pirate. Not all pirates are bad. There are a lot of bad ones though, and the law isn’t so friendly towards us… so there’s that. But we don’t go around leaving destruction in our paths.”

“You’re too soft to be a pirate I think.”

“Hey now, that’s rude.”

Jae sticks out his tongue and continues to hammer at the boards.

“I was caught in a storm. My crew escaped… I told them to take the lifeboats and make a break for the shore.”

“Why didn’t you go with them?”

“Are you kidding? A Pirate always goes down with his ship. It would be shameful otherwise.”

“That’s dumb.”

“Whatever, I thought it was kind of cool.”

“So why are you _here?_ ”

“Oh. That,” Brian thinks about the storm that lead to him being thrown into the Sky in the first place. “I don’t really remember it, but there was a storm. The ship got stuck in a whirlpool and next thing I knew I was being shot up into the sky. It seems a little silly when I think about it.”

“You were shot up here?”

“Yeah, ship and all. I wonder if my crew thinks I died that day.”

“So that’s why your ship looks funny.”

“Hey, she’s a good ship okay. Better be respectful or I’ll throw you overboard.”

“I can glide you know. I’ll live.”

Jae stretches his wings out to make his point.

For an _injured_ guy Jae sure likes to boast.

“Do you want to return?”

“To the Sea?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah I do eventually.”

“Why haven’t you yet?”

“Don’t know how... “

“Oh.”

“I’ve just been floating up here for who _knows_ how long. I’m hoping that I’ll find a way eventually, but I know it won’t be easy so I’m trying not to sweat too much on the details.”

“You need _wings_ , like mine.”

“You can’t even fly right now.”

“No, but that doesn’t mean I’ll never fly again.”

Brian watches his wings fold and unfold against the Sky and he feels a _longing_ in his chest. _Maybe I can fly with you._

 

 

“What exactly _are_ you?”

Brian lays back on the deck, looking up at the clear sky above him. There’s the slightest breeze and it feels good. The pressure in the air feels different, like maybe a storm is coming. Brian doesn’t think too much of it. He just wants to enjoy this moment of relaxation. Jae lays with his wings stretched out above him, head to head. They finished the chores earlier than usual, dividing the rest of the food (There’s enough to last them at _least_ three days if Jae lays off the snacking, and hopefully by then they’ll have finally hit land).

“I told you already, I’m Wingfolk.”

“Yeah but… what does that mean?”

“I don’t know… I have wings and I live in the Skysea.”

“Where is your home?”

Jae is silent for a moment. The sound of the sails in the wind mixes with the sound of their breathing.

“I don’t really _have_ one.”

“What about the other Wingfolk?”

“Oh.”

Brian wonders if maybe he breached on a sensitive topic and almost instantly regrets it.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to ta-”

“They all died in a raid by Sky Pirates. They came to our island, torched our homes… they slaughtered us and stole our wings.”

“Oh.”

“I was really young back then though, so I don’t remember it at all. I’ve just sort of been flying around aimlessly my whole life.”

“I’m really sorry Jae.”

“Nah, it’s okay. I might be the last one alive, but that’s okay.”

“That’s… that’s a lot. You’ve been alone all this time?”

“Well, yeah. It’s not so bad though, because I have the wind and the stars and the clouds and the birds.”

“What about humans? Have you ever tried to talk to any before?”

“Most of them run away because they’re afraid for some reason,” Brian feels a pang of guilt. He was definitely afraid of Jae when he first showed up on his ship. “Or they try to capture me like some kind of _animal_.”

...

“I was so desperate when I saw your ship. When I saw you in that _dress_ I could sense that you were different from the others.”

“Hey, it’s a _nightgown_ . Not a dress. I’ll have you know that it’s _quite_ comfortable.”

“Whatever. Anyway, my experience with humans hasn’t been all that great… so thank you.”

“Why are you thanking me?”

“For feeding me, and for letting me trust you, and for not being afraid.”

“Oh. Well… you didn’t give me much of a choice. Also I was terrified when you showed up! How is that not being afraid?”

“You weren’t afraid for _long._ You warmed up pretty quickly I’ll say.”

Brian turns his head to look at Jae’s profile. His eyes are closed, and he’s smiling up at the sky. The way the light plays with curve of his nose and the bow of his lips is more alluring that Brian wants to acknowledge.

“You talk too much.”

Jae turns his head so that they’re nose to nose and he’s smiling.

“You’re pretty cool, _Captain._ ”

“You can call me Brian.”

“Brian!”

Brian’s heart soars.

 

 

A violent wind rocks the ship back and forth and Brian worries that he’ll really be blown away this time. He frantically lowers the sails, yelling out order for Jae to do the same. In no time are they sitting below deck with the rest of their rations, sharing the last of the fruit from the Bell Island. It’s overly ripe, and sweet and the wind _howls_.

Brian would be lying if he said he wasn’t at least a _little_ bit scared. It’s only happened to him two other times, and both of those time he had faced the storm alone. This time he has Jae though, and Jae seems _calm_ . _He grew up here, of course he’s calm._

“The Wind is angry today.”

They pass the messy fruit between them, taking bites in turns.

“The Sky must have done something to piss it off.”

Brian takes a bite, feeling juice dribble down his chin.

“What do you mean?”

“First of all, don’t talk with your mouth full because it’s super gross. Second of all, don’t you know anything about anything? Geez.”

“Jae… I’m not from here, remember.”

“Yeah but you still have the Wind and the Sky.”

“Well, yeah… but that’s all they are.”

“Oh. “

“They’re in love you know.”

“Who?”

“The Wind and the Sky.”

“Okay…”

Brian leans back against a barrel and makes himself comfortable, ready to listen. Jae adjusts his wings so that they’re flat against his back. He almost looks human this way, and Brian can’t tell if he likes it or not, but it’s not his place to say anything.

 

“The Wind just showed up one day, and they Sky told it to “get out” because it kept causing a ruckus and moving the Clouds down below. The Wind didn’t listen, however. It decided to keep dancing around the Sky until _finally_ the Sky gave up on telling it to leave. They ignored each other, existing separately but a part of eachother.

One day, the Wind decided that it was bored of being ignored by the Sky, and it left. It went somewhere below the clouds, and everything was still again. At first the Sky thought this was a blessing, and it happily went about it’s days.

After a few Suns the Sky started to feel a bit lonely without the Wind. The stars were only there to keep it company at night, and it eventually asked the Sun to talk to the Wind into coming back.

At first the Wind said no, because the Sky was mean and selfish. So they Sky… the Sky asked the Clouds to help it in charming the Wind to come back. The Clouds laughed at the Sky, but helped anyways because that’s what friends do.

The Wind saw the effort that the Sky had put into bringing it back, and so it slowly let itself back in.

Before they even realized it they had fallen in love.

Now whenever the Sky and the Wind have a fight we get Skystorms. Sometimes they’re so bad that whole islands will be displaced. It’s a mess but it’s our mess I guess.”

 

Brian finishes the last of their shared fruit and looks up thoughtfully at Jae.

Jae (literally) lit up while telling his story, and he can’t help but feel a warmth in his chest at the sight of him.

“I like that.”

“The story of the Sky and the Wind?”

“Yeah. I like it a lot.”

Jae smiles.

“Do you have any more stories?”

 

They spend the rest of the night dipping into the strange fruit wine they found in one of the barrels and exchanging stories. Legends of old, recounts of their adventures, tales of the Sea and the Earth, of the Sky and the Wind, the Moon and the Sun.

 

 ~*~

“Hey Brian?”

“Yeah?”

“Have you ever been in love?”

He doesn’t answer.

They fall asleep nose to nose, fingertip to fingertip. Jae’s glow radiating warmth throughout both of their bodies.

~*~

 

When Brian wakes up he’s alone, and it’s _cold_ . He’s still below deck, and he wonders if the Sun has even risen. It’s so dark without Jae. _Without Jae._

Normally he wouldn’t feel so _heavy_ thinking such a thing, but something is weighing down on him.

His head is throbbing and he stumbles his way through the darkness towards the water machine. He doesn’t hear the familiar buzz of the gears, whirring with the Wind, and it sets off an alarm in his mind.

He runs up to the deck and immediately sees that the ship _isn’t moving_.

“Jae?”

The ship hit land at some point in the night. It’s well past noon based on the position of the Sun, and Brian is almost embarrassed for sleeping in so late. He scans the area for Jae.

_Maybe he’s on land._

The air around him feels much too quiet. He’s grown used to Jae talking his ear off the second he wakes up. It feels distant and kind of… _bad._

He shakes off the feeling and makes his way towards the where the Skyland meets the hull of his ship.

_Something is off._

The rope ladder that usually drags over the side of the ship has been cut hastily, and there are _marks_ going down the side of the ship as though someone was using a knife to grip into the wood. Brian’s heart skips a beat when he spots the shiny handle of the small knife he had given Jae in a pile of white feathers (“If you’re going to stick around you have to work” “Are you serious?” “You think all this food is free?” “Ugh this is so unfair” “Here, you might need this for peeling fruit later” “You’ve _got_ to be kidding me” “Hey, if you wanna eat, you gotta work.”).

“Jae?!”

Before his brain has time to fully wake up and catch up to his body he’s already halfway down the side of the ship, sliding down and paying little mind to the splinters now embedded into the flesh of his palms.

He hits the ground, feeling his knees wobble at the sudden _steadiness_ of the surface. It only takes a second before he’s running headlong into the brush ahead.

The greenery is different in the Sky. It’s lush, but close to the ground. He scans for signs of Jae. A feather, a footprint, anything.

A voice in the back of his head creeps its way to the front of his mind.

_Are you sure you aren’t delusional Brian? You didn’t just make him up because you were alone? The air pressure finally got to your head?_

He stops running, completely out of breath and topples over.

_Stupid._

He fights the urge to cry, wondering if this really is the end for him.

_I’ve finally done it. I’ve finally completely lost my mind. I’ve finall-_

“Brian?”

Jae’s voice cuts through his thoughts, clear as a bell.

“Brian, what are you doing out here? You’re covered in cuts and you’re all dirty, are you okay?”

Brian opens his eyes and Jae is standing above him, encased in a halo of light from the Sun above them. He’s got an armful of fruit and he looks _tired._

“J-jae…. I thought… I thought you were gone.”

Jae laughs. “Are you _serious?_ You should see yourself right now Bri, you look ridiculous.”

_Bri._

Brian cries while Jae helps him up, balancing the fruit carefully so as not to drop it.

In that moment Brian decides that he never wants to let go of Jae.  

 

On the ship Jae lays the fruit out in front of them on the deck and begins to wipe away at the cuts on Brian’s hands with a soft handkerchief.

“This is stuff we used to grow on my island! It’s really quite tasty. The skin is also really useful for healing small cuts so it looks like you’re in luck.”

“So you were just picking fruit?”

Brian tries not to pout. He’s embarrassed over his outburst.

“What, did you think I really _left?”_

The cuts on his hands sting.

....

“... your knife.”

“Oh, thanks for finding it for me!”

Jae takes the knife from Brian, using it to peel the fruit. He takes the skin and presses it to Brian’s hands. At first it’s cold, but it soothes.

“How?”

“Oh yeah.. The ladder.. I’ll fix it I swear. It’s just been so long since I’ve walked on steady ground and I lost my balance so I tried to use the knife to get a grip but it cut the rope and I fell and I’m so-”

“You idiot! I thought you were taken away!”

He pulls his hands away, now dripping in fruit juice, but he doesn’t care about that.

“ _What?”_

“Like… by Sky Pirates or something. I don’t know, I was worried okay.”

“You… were?”

Jae is wearing an expression that Brian isn’t sure he’s ever seen on him before. He looks a mix of happy and flustered and his cheeks are glowing a little brighter than usual and-

He begins to cry.

He drops his head against Brian’s chest and cries.

“Jae?” Now _Brian_ is confused because just a minutes ago he was the one crying and this hardly seems like appropriate behaviour for a _Pirate Captain_.

“I’m sorry… I’m just really _happy_ I think.”

“You’re ha- Jae you’re _crying_.”

Jae lifts his head with more force than necessary, nearly knocking Brian out completely before grabbing the sides of his face.  

Before Brian can process the action, Jae’s lips are melting against his. He tastes sweet like fruit and it’s warm and he’s _glowing_ and Brian thinks back to last night.

_“Have you ever been in love?”_

He brings his sticky, fruit drenched hands up to Jae’s hair and kisses him back.

They only stay like this for a minute. It’s hasty and sticky and kind of _gross_.

When they pull apart they both laugh.

Brian takes a deep breath and looks Jae directly in the eyes.

“Jae… will you sail with me?”

“I’m _already_ sailing with you.”

“Even when your wings heal?”

“Of course.”

“Even when the Wind is angry?”

“I wouldn’t dream of leaving.”

“Jae?”

“Yeah?”

“Have you ever been in love?”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you had fun on this mini adventure!  
> Tomorrow is Past Lives!
> 
> Don't forget to leave Kudos and Comments bc I love validation also please check out the rest of the wonderful works that are being posted by our wonderful group this week <3 They can all be found here on the[day6sailing](https://twitter.com/day6sailing) twt! <3
> 
> Yell at me on my [CC](https://curiouscat.me/KIASK)  
> or alternatively yell at me on Yell at me on my [twt](https://twitter.com/kiaskonawhim)


End file.
